


Come into my Castle

by kitkatkaylie



Series: Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catelyn Tully Stark Lives, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Family Feels, Gen, Reunions, Robb Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24274213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatkaylie/pseuds/kitkatkaylie
Summary: Tears welled up in Sansa’s eyes when the turrets of Riverrun soared up before her as they crested a final hill. She was so close to finally seeing her mother and sister again that she could not help herself.
Relationships: Arya Stark & Sansa Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark & Sansa Stark, Robb Stark & Sansa Stark
Series: Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1752277
Comments: 3
Kudos: 108





	Come into my Castle

Tears welled up in Sansa’s eyes when the turrets of Riverrun soared up before her as they crested a final hill. She was so very close to her family, so very close to her mother and sister again that she could not help but pick up her horse’s pace a little.

Robb did not mind where he rode next to her, he merely quickened his pace as well.

Together they sped down the hill, leaving the column of men behind them. They were uncaring of the lack of decorum they exuded, uncaring that it was not the done thing for the king and a princess to abandon their escort and gallop towards their mother.

The gates of Riverrun were already open, the household already gathered inside them to greet them, as though they had expected this very event to occur. And with their mother in Riverrun, perhaps she had.

There was no careful dismounting between them, Sansa all but flung herself off her horse, so eager was she to be in her mother’s arms again, and Robb did the same.

“Your Grace.” A man that could only have been their Uncle Edmure started to greet them, but he was cut off by a shriek from Arya as she rushed forwards.

“Sansa!” Arya yelled, “Sansa, you’re here!”

She threw herself at Sansa and Sansa eagerly enfolded her little sister in her arms, the sister she had thought dead for so long.

“Arya you’re alive, you’re alright you-” Sansa paused and looked at her sister properly, “What have you done with your _hair_?”

Arya grinned cheekily at her, “I cut it. I travelled as a boy for a while, and I couldn’t do that with long hair. Mother doesn’t like it though, even if she’s pleased it kept me safe.”

_Mother._

Sansa looked up from Arya’s laughing grey eyes to find her mother, and as soon as she did so she met her mother’s blue eyes.

“Sansa,” Her mother called out, sweeping towards her from where she had been greeting Robb, “Oh Sansa, my baby, I’m so glad you’re alright.”

Arya let Sansa go just in time for her to be swept up into her mother’s embrace.

For a moment all of Sansa’s pain and troubles disappeared, sent away by the comforting circle of her mother’s arms.

She settled into the hold, breathing in her mother’s scent of safety and home and was not ashamed when tears started to fall from her eyes.

From the dampness that seeped into her hair, her mother too was crying. Tears of joy at their reunion and sorrow that they had been parted so long.

Behind them the others reunited, a much more jovial reunion for the weight of their parting had not been so heavy. Sansa turned to watch them with a wet smile, pleased she could see them acting so freely.

“What no hug for me?” Robb asked Arya, playful indignation in his tone. “I could have died you know.”

Arya scowled at him and stuck her tongue out, “But you didn’t.”

A bark of laughter that could only have come from Theon and the sounds of a scuffle broke out. Sansa tore her gaze away from her brother flinging Arya up onto his shoulder while she writhed and scratched like a wild cat, and turned to look at her mother who was watching them with exasperated amusement.

“Sometimes I wonder if that crown has had any maturing effect on your brother, sweetling.” She said fondly.

Sansa grinned, “You would not have us any other way.”

Her mother stroked a hand over her hair, gentle and soothing and oh so familiar, “I would not. I do dread, however, the scene your siblings will make when we return to Winterfell. I fear none of you shall have much dignity after that.”

“I should hope not,” Sansa confessed, “I do believe I shall cry when I see Bran and Rickon and Jon again.”

A cough distracted them all, prevented her mother from replying. The Blackfish stood there, an eye on the suddenly crowded courtyard of Riverrun as the last of the column arrived.

“Perhaps we should take this inside?” He gently prodded.

Sansa had not realised her mother could still look like a scolded child, but she did at the reminder they were having such a tearful reunion where all could see them.

“An excellent suggestion Uncle.” Robb said, Arya still writhing over a shoulder. “Might we use the family solar?”

A soft smile graced their uncle’s face, “Of course, Your Grace. I’ll ensure everyone is settled in while you settle Princess Sansa in properly.”

Sansa had never set foot in the halls of Riverrun before, and yet the cool stone walls and bright tapestries had their own sense of familiarity. She recognised places from her mother’s stories, and the way that Riverrun had obviously had an influence in the way her mother had decorated her own chambers in Winterfell.

The entire time they walked, Arya remained flung over Robb’s shoulder and Sansa’s hand remained clasped in her mother’s. she did not think she could let go for anything, not even if the castle itself started to crumble around them or the dead started to walk again.

The solar itself was familiar and unfamiliar, its sweeping lines, large windows and elegant gauze curtains as far from the practicality of Winterfell as could be, and yet it held the same sense of home, the same sense of love, from the samplers above the fireplace stitched with her mother and aunt’s names, to the great portrait of them all that hung on one wall.

Her mother gently led her to an overstuffed sofa sat before the fire and there pulled her down so Sansa was curled up in her lap like she was baby Rickon. Arya curled up to one, and Robb the other, and soon they were all tucked around their mother like they used to when they were small and she would sing to them.

“A raven arrived from Winterfell, not one week past.” Mother said gently, “Jon Snow sent it, as he has been regularly, updating me on the boys.”

None of the pain that had used to exist at the mention of their half-brother filled mother’s voice, but neither was there fondness. It was unlikely that mother would ever fully change her opinion on the evidence of her husband’s unfaithfulness, but at the same time it was apparent that she appreciated the care he was offering to her youngest children.

“Has Rickon finally driven the castle mad then mother?” Robb asked carelessly, laying his head upon her shoulder.

Sansa shifted so she could see the smile playing at the edges of her mother’s lips.

“No, but Jon Snow writes that Bran has taken to leashing Summer to his sled and chasing Rickon through the Godswood.”

Robb guffawed at that image, and Arya’s eyes lit up with a mischievous hope.

“Do you think he would let me have a go?” She asked eagerly.

The door opened before anyone could answer that request, and Theon poked his head in.

“Sorry to disturb, but I thought you would like to know that everyone has settled in.”

“Theon! Come join us!” Robb called.

Mother’s lips pursed in disapproval as Theon entered the room, and Sansa felt lie she had to speak up, had to defend her brother in all but name.

“Theon saved me mother.” She said softly, “Cersei Lannister held a knife to my throat, and Theon saved me.”

Her mother’s eyes softened, imperceptibly to someone who did not know her but still softened. She nodded and gestured for Theon to join them, and after a moment’s hesitation he did. He perched on Robb’s other side, and something too complex to be understood crossed his face.

“You did not answer my question.” Arya huffed when they had settled down once more, “Do you think Bran would let me ride his direwolf sled?”

Laughter bubbled out of Sansa’s chest at her sister’s words, a laughter freed by the relief she felt surrounded by her family and the knowledge that soon she would be home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> If you liked this feel free to chat with me on tumblr @istaricelebelasse


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